hawkinsrails.net / mainlines / nogn

New Orleans Great Northern Railroad

The New Orleans Great Northern, like the Meridian & Memphis, the Jackson & Eastern, most of the Gulf, Mobile & Northern, and countless other segments of railroads in Mississippi, was built for the primary, purpose of serving as a lumber hauling road. There was one great difference, however, between the New Orleans Great Northern and most of these other "logging" roads. The "Nogan" as it was popularly called, was planned, engineered, and built to be a permanent railroad, and its backers seldom had great difficulty in raising funds for construction.

James H. Lemly

The New Orleans Great Northern Railroad was incorporated in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1905 by the owners of the Great Southern Lumber Company -- builders of one of the largest sawmills in the country at the new town of Bogalusa, Louisiana. The NOGN bought the East Louisiana Railway in June of the same year, and was completed from Slidell to Jackson, Mississippi by 1910. Westward branchlines included lines from Rio to Tylertown and Slidell to Covington and Folsom. The Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad acquired control of the NOGN in 1929, and officially leased the road in 1933.

1913 system map / collection

stock certificate / collection

See also our successor Gulf, Mobile & Northern and Gulf, Mobile & Ohio mainline collections

Motive Power

New Orleans Great Northern #105

New Orleans Great Northern #105

builder's photo / collection

New Orleans Great Northern #105

  • builder:Baldwin Locomotive Works
  • arrangement:4-4-0 American
  • built:Jun 1906, Baldwin #28339
  • fuel:coal/water
  • notes:
  • 18x24" cylinders, 69" drivers
  • 8 Baldwin Americans built for NOGN
New Orleans Great Northern #70

New Orleans Great Northern #70

Bogalusa, La / Jan 1927 / collection

New Orleans Great Northern #70

  • builder:ALCO Richmond
  • arrangement:4-6-0 Ten-wheeler
  • built:Mar 1912, Alco #50776
  • fuel:coal/water
  • notes:
  • 20x26" cylinders, 61" drivers
  • 15 Ten-wheelers on NOGN roster
    1 of 3 built by Alco
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio #500

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio #500

1940s / collection

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio #500

  • builder:ALCO Richmond
  • arrangement:4-8-2 Mountain
  • built:May 1927, Alco #67316
  • fuel:coal/water
  • notes:
  • 24x28" cylinders, 63" drivers
  • blt New Orleans Great Northern #200
    1 of 3 Alco Mountains built for NOGN
  • to Gulf, Mobile & Ohio #500
    to Georgia & Florida #601

Locations

New Orleans Great Northern depot

Covington, La / 1986 / JCH

Covington, La / 1986 / JCH

Lagniappe

Mountain Business

1940s / collection

hand-drawn system map / JCH

Links / Sources

hawkinsrails.net / mainlines / nogn